A Four-Year-Old Asked David Attenborough If Humans Will Go Extinct Like the Dinosaurs. He Wrote Back
When a four-year-old wrote Sir David Attenborough a question about dinosaurs, things escalated quickly when he also asked whether humans would follow the dinosaurs to their doom.
Dear Sir David,
I've been reading a lot about the dinosaurs lately, and I had a question for you. Will we be extinct one day too? My mummy says that if we take care of Planet Earth by recycling our rubbish, driving the car less, and eating less meat, then we can help.
What do you think is the most important thing I can do to help save the planet?
Thank you.
Otis Allen (aged 4.5)
Otis Allen's printed letter came with his illustration of a green brontosaurus with the words "I (heart) DINOS!"
Otis' mother, Gerry Holt, is a former BBC news journalist who now does communications work for biomedical and life sciences at Cardiff University. "Sir David is 94. He is a wonder," wrote Holt in a tweet.
According to Holt, she was stumped when Attenborough wrote back to her son. Otis asked her the existential question after learning the dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago, but she did not know the answer.
"I said I didn't know the answer, but I hoped not. So I told him about climate change and how we need to look after our planet," Holt told the BBC.
Otis' eyes widened with shock when his mother told him about global warming, climate change, and how people should save the planet by eating less meat and driving less.
So she encouraged Otis to write to Sir David. And he wrote back. The 94-year-old naturalist and documentary presenter took Otis seriously and decided to pen a letter too.
My little boy (age 4.5) wrote to Sir David Attenborough to ask if humans would be extinct one day “like the dinosaurs”. Today he received this beautiful reply: “The answer is that we need not do so as long as we look after our planet properly.”
— Gerry Holt (@Gerryholt) March 17, 2021
Sir David is 94. He is a wonder ???? pic.twitter.com/JR2cgcA1Ay
Dear Otis,
Thank you for your letter.
You ask whether human beings will become extinct as the dinosaurs have become.
The answer is that we need not do so as long as we look after our planet properly.
Best wishes,
David Attenborough.
